Kakashi's Son
by Yuri Neko no ashi
Summary: Kakashi had never imagined he'd have a child. He had had never imagined he'd fall for a cute baby boy with its cute, too-innocent green eyes staring up at him. He'd never imagined this baby would be the one thing he would protect with his life. But with one glance at the helpless child in front of him, he knew he now played a new role; a father. Mostly canon pairings. T for now.
1. Prologue

Harry James Potter, future saviour of the wizarding world, future vanquisher of the Dark Lord lay sleeping in Lily Potter's arms. She stroked a strand of his unusual silver-grey hair. She and James had been most confused when he was born with silver-grey hair, instead of red or black, but had taken it in their stride. It hadn't taken Lily long to remember the only other person she had met who had the exact same hair colour. _Him._ Kakashi Hatake.

She had tried very hard to forget her ninja life. Her father had died on a mission, and her mother had been grief-ridden. She had found a way to leave Konoha, and in fact, all of the Elemental Nations, to the Outside World. She had left Lily, known as Yuri back then, alone in Konoha and gone to a place called England, changing her name to Olivia Smith, purposely choosing a common surname. She had left Lily with information on how to join her, if she ever wanted to, and once a year she gave Lily a letter, strangely sent by a beautiful tawny owl. She had married a man called Peter Evans, and had a daughter named Petunia.

Lily would have gone with her earlier, but a silver-grey haired boy had unknowingly made her stay. Kakashi Hatake. She had been fascinated by him. They had grown close, but after his teammates, Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara had died, he became distant, having no time for her. He then became an ANBU and Lily had left, heartbroken. He barely acknowledged her and she couldn't stand it. She had no idea that it was hurting Kakashi as well.

When Lily left Konoha she had been transformed into a young six-year-old. Thoroughly annoyed she quickly found her mother's house, as she had landed on their street. Her mother had been shocked, then laughed at her daughter's fate. She welcomed Lily back to the family, meddling with the family's minds, making it seem like she had been born around the same time as Petunia.

Her chakra had been modified, much like her mother's had been. She said it was a side effect of the jutsu that bought them here. She had hit 11 for the second time and received a Hogwarts acceptance letter and, after about 10 minutes of laughing at the name, she had accepted. There she met many, Severus Snape, Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and James Potter.

And after years of denying him dates she finally accepted one.

And she fell for him.

But it didn't go that smoothly afterwards.

They left the magic school and moved in together. But Lily was homesick, and her mind was plagued by certain Silver-grey haired Shinobi. So when she was visiting her mother and her mother admitted to knowing a jutsu that temporarily transported one to the Elemental Nations she had used it.

She had landed in her old house in Konoha. To say Kakashi was shocked was an understatement. He had been grief-ridden after she left. He had lost Rin and Obito and hadn't wanted to lose Yuri either, so had had become distant, hardly seeing her. He had hated it. And then she had gone missing and it had gotten worse.

He had been sitting on her bed when she appeared. It was the anniversary of when they had first met, and every year he came to her house and spoke to her. She was his weakness, though barely anyone knew it. He had been sitting there half-an-hour in silence. Then Yuri had appeared out of nowhere.

Yuri had made him swear to secrecy about her visit. He had half-heartedly agreed. She then explained what had happened, minus the magic and a certain James Potter. She also mentioned she could only stay for a month. He had been sad, but it was better than nothing.

They grew close over the month, and Konoha was surprised to see him in a happier, cheerier mood than usual, Gai had asked him about why he had decided to embrace his 'flames of youth' and the Hokage watched him in silent contemplation.

When Yuri left at the end of the month she was pregnant.

Kakashi grew reclusive and detached again, more than he was before, leaving the village in a state of confusion. But he slowly came back to normal with the help of his friends.

Meanwhile, James was thrilled with the news Lily was pregnant. He had been worried about her when she had mysteriously disappeared a month before, even with Lily's mother giving an excuse. But he forgot all about it when Lily came home bearing a baby.

The baby was born. He was healthy and happy, and made Lily's heart swell with pride. Her only regret was that he was Kakashi's. He had Kakashi's silver hair. The nurses passed it off as a genetic mutation, not bothering to get a DNA test. Lily didn't want James to find out, so she hadn't asked for one, and they didn't feel the need to otherwise.

James wanted to call the baby Harry. Lily did not. But James insisted. Lily had felt anger rise in her stomach, it was _not_ James's baby! He was hers and Kakashi's! So she had pretended to agree, but instead named the baby Haruchiki, keeping the 'Har' at the start of his name in honour of James's choice of name. His full name was Haruchiki James Hatake, taking the last name of his father but also the name of his step-father. That is what was said on the real birth certificate, but Lily had a fake, with the name Harry James Potter written on, which is the one she gave to James.

She decided to keep a box full of all her ninja things, Haru's real birth certificate and her journal amongst other things in a secret room hidden in the attic for when Haru grew old enough for her to explain his heritage.

But it didn't work as well as that.

Her chakra-magic began to react violently one night. She knew it was sensing something evil. Her stomach twisted when she realised it was Voldemort. She had calmed herself and then calmly walked upstairs, putting on a façade for James. She said she was going to the loo, instead rushing to Haru's room. She gazed at her beloved, sleeping baby. He was asleep and peaceful, his silver hair cropping his chubby baby face.

She breathed in a shaky breath. She knew she wouldn't be able preventing Voldemort from coming. She had to protect her baby! Fighting the sinking feeling that had appeared when she realised Peter had betrayed them, she began to quickly move her fingers in the hand signs for a jutsu. With incredible speed she performed the seals and poured her chakra-magic into it, as well as her love.

It was a protection jutsu. Her chakra-magic overpowered it, and her love made it invincible for at least the night. She cried out the name of the jutsu and the air around Haru shimmered green and silver, letting off immense power. Lily fell to the floor, drained. She heaved for breath. When she managed to steady her breathing she gazed down at her beloved son. Her thoughts then went to the trunk.

She quickly packed everything she could and everything that he would need into it, then closed it. She bit her thumb, drawing blood, then made a seal, meaning only Haru could open the trunk. She then began to manipulate her chakra-magic into the trunk, making sure it would not be destroyed and would appear to Haru when the trunk believed it was time.

After she had finished she could only wait in deep sadness and regret, gazing at her beautiful baby boy. She could only hope he would one day find his father. She stroked a strand of silver hair from his eyes and smiled sadly. If only they _had_ chosen Sirius for their secret-keeper. Peter had betrayed them like a filthy rat, just like his animagus form.

A crash sounded downstairs and her heart began to pound. James yelled from the living room. "Lily! It's Voldemort! Get Harry!" Lily's green eyes widened in fear. She could've warned James! He could've escaped, it was Haru he wanted, and Lily was the one protecting him! She loved Kakashi, but that didn't mean she didn't love James, either. James shouldn't die protecting one who wasn't even his child! Lily wasn't worth James's life in her eyes.

"James!" She screamed in a desperate plea. She heard a mad cackle that could only belong to Voldemort, a scream of, "Avada Kedavra!", and a flash of green light. Her heart sank, then rose in fury. James was dead! She screamed in fury. "You monster!"

Voldemort seemed to suddenly appear in Haru's room and seemed smug. "Monster, you say?" Lily snarled in fury, adrenaline, the need to protect her baby and fury at James's killer gave her the energy she had just used up on Haru's protection Jutsu. She took a ninja stance, her years of training kicking in, and spat on Voldemort's face.

He grimaced in disgust, but seemed mildly interested at Lily's stance. He gave a chuckle. "Playing ninja now, are you? It won't help. Step aside so I can kill the boy." Lily's face consorted in fury.

"As if I would let you kill Haruchiki! And I am not _playing_ ninja! I am Yuri Komatsu, Kunoichi of The Hidden Leaf!" Her aura began to glow, radiating power.

Voldemort was taken aback. What was Lily suggesting? That she was a… _ninja_? And these Japanese names… Haruchiki and Yuri. Wasn't Yuri, 'Lily' in Japanese? And all that power! Only he should be able to own that much power! She didn't know how to wield it. She was using… hand signs. He almost snorted. She would have to die.

Lily rushed through hand sign after hand sign. Her ninja skills were rusty but she was determined to finish this jutsu. The signs came naturally. It wasn't a particularly special one, but it was very dangerous. It was a fire jutsu, fire being her chakra nature. " ** _Katon: Karyū Endan!_** **"** (Fire Style; Dragon Flame Bomb!) An incredibly long stream of fire burst from Lily's mouth. It was so hot the majority of the flames were white.

Voldemort's body began to burn. What was this?! He quickly cast a shield charm, not after being scorched so badly every time he moved it hurt. He gritted his teeth in fury. He glared at the now worn out Lily at his feet. He sneered. "Arvada Kedarva!" Lily's eyes widened and then she was dead.

Voldemort was curious at how she had manipulated her magic, but he could research that later. Now to kill the boy! He first cast a healing spell to ease the searing pain. After the pain became bearable he walked over to the now awake and crying little boy in the cot. He had silver hair, which was a surprise to Voldemort. Neither Lily nor James had silver hair, so it was quite strange. Not like it mattered. The tear filled eyes were emerald-green like their mothers, and they seemed far too intelligent for a one-year-old.

Voldemort paid it no attention. He raised his wand, a triumphant grin on his face as he yelled the words that would change the fate of two worlds.

"Avada Kedavra!"

* * *

 **AN: I'm just popping down here to say I've finally fixed the spelling mistake on the killing curse XD Took me long enough, I know. Thanks for those who pointed out and if you spot anything else, please feel free to let me know! It'll be appreciated ;)**

 **~Yuri Out~**


	2. Chapter 1 - New Friends

In one timeline, an eight year old Harry Potter awoke to a sharp rapping on his cupboard door, sighed, and resigned himself to his fate of chores and harsh words.

But, in this timeline, eight year old Haru Hatake awoke by himself with a grin. "Otou-san!" He yelled, running into his fathers bedroom excitedly. "Otou-san, it's my first day at the Academy!" Kakashi Hatake, the sixth Hokage and proud father, grinned under his mask (Haru could tell; he'd had plenty of practise) and lifted up Haru into his arms. "Maa, and so it is! Well, Haru, you'd better get ready if you want to get there on time." Haru nodded enthusiastically, wriggling to escape his fathers' grasp.

"But, on the other hand, if you arrive at the academy on time, you won't have time to have any of that leftover dango from last night. Such a shame. Guess I'll have to eat it myself!" He smirked inwardly when Haru hesitantly looked between the kitchen and his bedroom. "...Well... I guess being a /little/ bit late wouldn't hurt..." He said, playing with his pajama shirt.

"Aah, okay then! I guess I'll have to share! C'mon, my cute little Haru!" Kakashi grinned, ignoring the ignorant squeals of Haru saying he was /NOT/ cute, and relished in the thought of everyone's reaction to his son.

Today would be the first day alot of people would find out he had a son, as only a few people knew in the first place. Tsunade, Shizune, Anko (a complete accident), Iruka (also an accident) and obviously, all the ANBU.

Haru had been in high amounts of danger during the Shinobi war. Kakashi had taken the role of Haru's father after Naruto and Sasuke's battle at the Valley of the End, and had found it hard to give Haru a proper childhood, especially after the Akatsuki emerged, and then Obito. Haru had always been worried about his Otou-san when he left for missions or had to train his team.

Kakashi had tried to look after him as best he could and spend as much time with him as possible with him fighting the Akatsuki, Nagato, Sasuke and the Ten-Tails at different points in time. Iruka, Tsunade, Shizune and also many of the dog summons helped look after Haru when Kakashi couldn't, and even Anko helped out occasionally.

Anko and Haru were both too obsessed with dango, and that ultimately led to the loss of Haru's secret. Luckily, Anko seemed to find the idea of everyone's reactions highly amusing, so agreed to keep Haru's existence secret, and even helped out with some of Haru's training. They became quite close, and Anko often visited. This resulted in her being referred to as 'Onee-Chan!', which Anko definitely liked. Another outcome of Anko was Haru's growing proficiency in using Senbon needles, and other long distance weapons, though he did tend to prefer short hand ones.

Iruka had found out after Kakashi accidently mentioned his 'Cute little son' to Tsunade after returning from a mission, not realising Iruka had entered. (To be fair to him, Iruka wasn't noticed because Kakashi had been injured, and wasn't paying attention anyway. Tsunade would later tease that it was his laziness.)

Since then, Iruka had also become a big part of Kakashi and Haru's life, and though he wasn't referred to like a brother, he had been given the nickname 'Ruka'.

Tsunade had been dubbed 'Tsu-obaa-chan' by a stubborn two-year-old Haru, and it stuck, much to Kakashi and Shizune's amusement. It was like Naruto all over again. Shizune was 'Zune', which Shizune found adorable, and that left Tsunade grumbling over the unfairness of little brats.

Today everyone else would learn of Haru's existence, and Kakashi was both pleased and scared. His little boy was growing up, even though he was still only eight. He'd meet new people and make new friends. There would be chaos today, and he knew it.

* * *

Aki woke shortly after Haru. He barked in excitement, realising today was the big day of Haru's reveal, and rushed out to greet Haru and Kakashi downstairs at the table.

"Aki! You're awake!" Haru grinned, patting his lap to invite Aki to sit there. Aki did so, his mouth watering at the smell of dango. Hey, he may be a dog, but even dogs can enjoy the wonderful food that is dango.

"I sure am, Haru! I'm so exited!" He barked, licking Haru's cheek. Haru giggled and pet Aki's back, causing his tail to thump.

"Me too," He admitted, "And I can't wait to make some friends and learn some cool new ninja things!"

Kakashi slid a dango stick to Aki, who greedily ate it down. "Thanks, 'Kashi!" He said after finishing. Kakashi's eyes turned into twin curves, even though only one was in view, "Maa, its nothing. But, you need to have some proper food, too. You can't live off dango, especially because you're a dog." Aki pouted but gave in when he spotted the meat on show. "...Okay," he pretend huffed, then bounded over to snaffle it down.

"That means you too, Haru," Kakashi said sweetly, causing Haru to groan but give in anyway. If Aki could, so could he.  
Aki was a nin-dog summons pup that had grown immensely attached to Haru after they first met when Haru was the age of three, and in turn Haru grew attached to him.

The summons dogs all noticed the unusual bond, so agreed to let Aki become a permanent part of Haru's life by him living alongside Haru.

This was allowed because Aki's parents had died, so he wasn't really able to look after himself, and because of the fact the dog summons were very fond of Kakashi and Haru, and had had loyal links to the Hatake's for generations. Their bond was very similar to the Inuzuka clan's bonds, yet it still had its differences.

Aki had the appearance of a wolf, albeit a small one, yet one of a wolf nonetheless. Haru loved that addition, and in his eyes it only added to the awesomeness of him. They were a great team, and were each others' best friends, and Kakashi and his own dog summons cared for him, too.

Kakashi yawned, and glanced at his non -existent watch. "Oh dear, Haru-Chan! It seems you're late! Well, you should probably be going!"

Haru wiped his mouth with his sleeve and glared at his father. "/Don't/. Call me Haru-Chan!" Kakashi giggled, and stood up, shoving his hands in his pockets nonchalantly. "Sure thing, Haru-Chan!" He replied, causing Haru to sigh, and give up, picking up Aki and placing him on his shoulders. There was a minute of silence, before Haru said in a small voice, "Bye, Otou-san," revealing how nervous he actually was.

Kakashi walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "Bye, Haru. I know you'll do great. Show those other brats a true Hatake, okay?" Haru nodded, and hugged his father, who returned it as best he could. Aki barked excitedly and tried to join in, causing Haru to giggle, and let Kakashi go.

"C'mon, Aki," he said, making his way to the door. "We're already late, and we've gotta make our dramatic entrance!" He grinned at Kakashi as he left, then he shut the door and was gone.

Kakashi let the tightness that had balled up in his chest be released in a sigh. He scratched the back of his head and gazed wistfully at the closed door. "Good look, Haru," he whispered, well aware he was the only one to hear it.

* * *

Haru and Aki ran side by side through the streets of Konoha together, getting closer and closer to the Academy with every step. When they finally arrived, Haru motioned for Aki to wait quietly. He glanced around the windows of the different Academy rooms, quickly identifying the classroom he was supposed to be in by the figure of Iruka standing at the front of the classroom, looking mildly annoyed. Snickering slightly to himself, Haru motioned for Aki to follow him as he reached the door of the classroom.

* * *

Nozomi Kaneko was an unusual child. She had been born into a completely normal civilian family, with loving parents and two perfectly ordinary siblings. There was no reason for her to be born any different to them. But she was.  
At first she was normal too. But then again, you can't really tell these things when the person in question was still a baby.

The first time something different with Nozomi was found was when her teeth started to grow in. This difference was that she had unusually sharp incisors and, at first, her parents thought nothing of it. After all, some people are born with sharper teeth than others, and that was a fact of life.

No, the first time they /really/ noticed something was different was when her eyes started to change.

At first it was subtle. The darkening of the bright baby-blue iris's. But that's what generally happens to the bright blue colour of a baby's eye. When the iris completely covered the whites of her eyes and the pupils became slitted, that was when the worry came for real.

Of course, since her parents had a fear of the shinobi of Konoha, and didn't want to bother them with their questions about their daughter of there was nothing really wrong, they didn't do anything about it.

They only took a happily and oblivious five-and-a-half-year old to the shinobi hospital when they found her clapping hands with a wide grin, bearing her pointy incisors, facing three wild cats who were looking at her in interest, surrounded in dead mice and covered in blood.

The only explanation that they received was that Nozomi was a genetic anomaly, and most likely a descendant of a clan tied closely together with cats the same way the Inuzuka were with dogs.

When the Kanekos fearfully asked what this meant for their daughter, the shinobi shrugged and said it was up to Nozomi, although, they said, if she did decide to take the ninja path she would most likely have an advantage and it would certainly help to have all of her wild, defiantly-more-than-civilian, amount of chakra.

When Nozomi was asked if she wanted to become a ninja in the baby-talk voice reserved for little kids that makes everything seem more exiting, she announced, "Duh! Of course!" With shining eyes.

And since then she couldn't wait to start the academy, and she knew that her many cat-friends were also brimming with excitement on her behalf. She had convinced her parents to let her join at the age of eight rather than later by reassuring them she would be learning mostly academic things at her age, though she didn't know of that was quite true herself.

On the morning of her first day of Academy she woke several hours early, full with endless energy. Realising that it was really happening, she squealed in happiness, and flicked a few of her red strands of hair from her face and sat up on her bed.

Her parents were most likely still asleep, and, judging by the loud snores coming from the room next to hers, her older brother was too, and from the lack of baby wailing, so was her little sister.

Feeling soft, warm fur rub against her arm, she turned her head to see a small tortoiseshell cat purring and rubbing its head against her. She smiled. "Hey, Chika! Are you exited too? I know I am!" She squealed, allowing Chika to curl up in her lap while Nozomi pet her gently.

"I wonder what it'll be like! Will everyone like me? I wonder if anyone else has different eyes? Will the teacher be kind? Will they be good at teaching? What do you think, Chika? That they'll be good?" She took Chika's purr of content as confirmation. "Me too!" She grinned enthusiastically, lifting Chika up to face height, looking into her eyes and bumping their noses together in a show of friendly affection.

Now here she was, sitting on the second row of the Academy classroom next to a scowling boy with brown hair and strange purple-y pupil less eyes that when she asked about he just looks away from her and mumbled something about nosy civilians. On the other side of her was another boy who looked about as civilian as you could get, and also hopelessly lost and nervous among the rest of the class.

After a quick interrogation she learnt his name was Hideo Hano, and he seemed unwilling to talk to her after she smiled brightly, showing her teeth while introducing herself as "Kaneko Nozomi!" While offering her hand. She figured he must have been scared by her teeth, and though he was polite enough to shake her hand, his palms were sweaty.

Sighing to herself, she kicked her legs back and forth, and looked up as her new sensei began to talk.  
"My name is Iruka-Sensei and I will be your teacher for at least this first year of the Academy. Now, just-," she zoned out slightly as he started to speak, instead focusing on the annoying tune that would not get out of her head. When she started paying attention again, he was calling out names. She wasn't particularly interested in this, either, but she paid attention. Slightly.

"Hano Hideo!" Was called out, followed by a meek, "Here, Sensei."

Then Iruka said, "Hatake Haruchiki," which caused a slight murmur to ripple through the classroom. When nobody answered, Iruka tried again, in a sterner, more annoyed tone.

"Hatake Haruchiki," which was one again met with silence except for a few dull whispers. Iruka let out a long-suffering sigh and moved onto the next name, that happened to be,  
"Hyuuga Hiroto," which was what the grumpy kid on Nozomi's other side answered with a dull, "Here, Sensei," in the complete opposite tone to Hideo.

After several more names were called out, Nozomi heard her own name cut through the class.  
"Kaneko Nozomi,"  
"Here, Sensei!" She replied enthusiastically, waving widely from her seat. Iruka's eyes briefly landed on her before moving onto the next name.

When the name, "Uehara Eito," was reached, Nozomi's heightened senses picked up movement from behind the classroom door. She did think much of it until it stayed there rather than walking past, and one smelt strangely of dog. This caused a frown to appear on her face, and just as she was in the middle of glancing from Iruka to the door, the door burst open. And by burst, she meant it literally. It burst. There were splinters and chunks of wood all over the floor and broken glass also scattered here and there.

Standing in the doorway was a boy who looked about her age with silver-y white hair and looking incredibly smug. Next to him stood a wolf- no, a dog that looked like a wolf. Their scents were different, after all.

Iruka placed a hand to his forehead and muttered under his breath, before straitening up and yelling, "Haru! It is your first day at the Academy! I expected better of you, but instead you arrive late and /break/ the door to the class! You are interrupting, you know! Guess I shouldn't have thought that a Hatake could actually do something without drawing attention to themselves."

The boy, Haru, seemed to not like this notion, and was frowning. "Hey, 'Ruka! I /can/ do something dis-discre-discr-,"  
"Discreetly?" Iruka offered. "The day trees walk," he mumbled. "Right. Haru and Aki, welcome to your new class. Find a seat please so we can continue with the lesson." Haru happily bounded to the empty seat on the back row, next to a civilian kid with blonde hair. "No," Iruka decided. "Haru, you're sitting near the front. I don't trust you back there."  
Pouting slightly, Haru stood back up from the seat he had sunk into. Iruka focused his attention to the first two rows of the class, and asked friendlily, "Would anyone on the first two rows like to move to the back?"

In return he was greeted with blank faces, but eventually a hand was risen by Hideo, the boy next to her, who was looking at Nozomi like she wanted to kill him in his sleep. She frowned at this and sunk into her chair.

"Great!" Iruka said, "So, Hano-kun, why don't you go and sit next to Yoshikawa-chan at the back, okay? Haru-kun and Aki, you can come and sit next to Kaneko-chan at the front." Haru and Hideo swapped places without complaint; Hideo looking relived and Haru not really bothered.

Nozomi watched as Haru walked up to the seat next to her, accompanied by the wolf-dog Nozomi remembered that Iruka had called Aki.

Although she definitely preferred cats to dogs, she did find dogs quite nice and friendly, so had no qualms waving cheerfully at Haru as he took his seat. "Hiya!" She whispered while Iruka quickly finished off the register. "I'm Kaneko Nozomi!" She held out her hand for the third time that day, and beamed when, for the first time of all three, it was returned properly with a, "I'm Hatake Haruchiki, but call me Haru!" The dog peeked it's head up at her, and Haru laughed quietly. "And this is my best friend, Aki!" Smiling, Nozomi nodded, getting the feeling she had found her first friend.

* * *

"Okay, class! The first thing we're going to do is get to know each other! Working together is an important part of being a ninja, so knowing each other better will help prepare you. What I want you to do is to go around the class and get to know at least two people. Know their names and, umh, lets see... their favorite animal, and two facts about them. I'll be asking everyone to tell me who they learnt about, so don't think you can't just pretend to do it. Okay? Right. Now I've gotta clean all this wood up. Off you go!"

Haru began to talk to Nozomi first, relieved he had found someone friendly. "So, your name is, uh, Kaneko Nozomi, right?" She nodded. "So, your favourite animal?" She tilted her head.

"Isn't is obvious?" She asked in genuine confusion. Haru stared at her. "...Uh, no...?"  
She frowned, then grinned. Haru noticed her incisors were very sharp like his own. She pointed to her eyes. "Look at these! Do you know know now?"

Haru hadn't really looked at them earlier, but now he did and he wondered how he didn't notice them before. "That's really cool!" He murmured, looking at them in curiosity.

"Soooooo~ what animal do I like best?" Nozomi questioned again.  
"Uh, cats, right?"  
"Yeah! And I bet you like dogs the most." Suddenly Nozomi seemed to realise something. "...Wait. Oh Kami! Hatake! That's the last name of the Hokage! You're the Hokage's son?! I didn't know he had one! Oh gosh! What? How- you- I- wha-? Oh my!"

"Shh!" Haru whispered desperately. "Wait for everyone else to figure it out themselves, please?" He asked pleadingly.  
Nozomi's cat eyes flickered around the classroom at the other oblivious students, and nodded. "Okay," she whispered, giggling. "But that's so cool! What's he like, y'know, the Hokage? I bet he's really cool! He's all mysterious with his silver hair and mask!" Before Haru had the chance to answer her, the boy who had been sitting on the other side of Nozomi shoved next to her and whispered furiously, "You're the Hokage's son?!"

Haru, slightly put off, answered with a, "...Yeah? And, uh, what's your name?"  
The boy immediately tensed. "I am Hyuuga Hiroto," he answered incredibly snobbishly, then he awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "...Sorry. I- uh- Otou-sama told me to, uh, act like that." He admitted meekly, looking quickly around the classroom as is his father would turn up any second to reprimand him.

"Hey, it's cool!" Nozomi grinned, reaching her hand out to him a second time. "I know I already did this but I was hoping you could do it better this time!" He nervously took her hand before shaking it firmly.  
"I, uh, I like y-your eyes," he said to her, stumbling over his words slightly. Nozomi beamed at him.  
"I like yours too!" She said in return. "They're cool and, uhm, pupil-less!" Hiroto laughed slightly. "Thanks." He replied, loosening up slightly. He focused his attention back to Haru. "So, /are/ you the Hokage's son? He whispered furiously. Haru grinned. "Yup. He's, uh, lazy. And eats alot. And sometimes stays up all night reading that orange book of his. I've still yet to find out what it's about, though." Hiroto seemed astounded.

"Did you just call the Hokage 'lazy'? Kami, you really are his son!" He said in awe. Kicking his legs back and forth with grin still in place, Haru nodded. "Yup," he said again, this time popping the 'p'.  
"So, since 'Ruka gave us a task, we should probably do it," Haru admitted glancing at Iruka who had by now cleared up the broken door and was looking over the class making sure no one wasn't doing what he asked. "He'll be pretty annoyed if we don't."

Nozomi nodded seriously. "Well, then! My name is Kaneko Nozomi and I like cats the best, and now the two facts. Hmm, well, I have two siblings! I have an older brother and a baby sister. Onii-san isn't a ninja, he works at a bookshop, and my baby imouto is only, uh," she held up a finger, "One and a bit years old! Okaa-san always says her age in months but I think thats silly because she's already reached one year so you can just go 'Ayako-Chan is 1 year and something months' rather than just adding the extra months onto the 12 other ones. Plus I can never remember how many months old she is anyway. Another fact would be that, see these three dots here?" Haru and Hiroto nodded as she pointed to the collection of three circular black dots on her cheek, consisting of two on the bottom and a black one on the top in the middle like the three corners of a triangle. "These are birthmarks! No one else in my family has them and when my parents took me to the shinobi guy when I was little he told me they were probably a ninja clan mark even though I'm not /from/ a ninja clan! And apparently my Okaa-san or Otou-san (or maybe both!) are descendants of a ninja clan that was thought to have died out but then came back with me!" She grinned. "Cool, huh?"  
Hiroto and Haru both nodded, Hiroto more enthusiastically, while Haru seemed to be petting Aki behind the ears simultaneously.

Nozomi gestured at Haru. "Your turn now, Haru. I wanna know what living as the Hokage's son is like!" Haru looked up. "Okay, then. My name is Hatake Haruchiki, but keep calling me Haru, and my favourite animals are obviously dogs. Two facts, well, my best friend is Aki, who is my dog right here, and he's actually a nin-dog from Otou-san's pack, which is really cool." Aki spoke up for the first time since arriving at the academy. "Hi!"

Nozomi squealed in delight. "He can speak!" Haru nodded, "Uh, yeah? He /is/ a nin-dog."  
"Can I pet him? Aki, can I pet you?" Haru shrugged and looked at Aki. "Whatever Aki says," to which Aki just jumped onto Nozomi's lap in answer. Giggling, she began to scratch him between the ears, and looked at Haru, silently telling him to continue.

Hiroto, while this was happening, discretely moved closer to Nozomi, blushing slightly. "Okay, well, my favourite food is dango, and sometimes me and Anko-Nee-Chan have dango eating contests, but I've never won. Yet." Determination flared up in his eyes. "Yet," he repeated. It died down and he continued to talk. "Anyway, Anko-Nee-Chan isn't my real sister, but she might as well be! Otou-san says I met her because when he was buying dango one day, I was impatient and saw her eating some and tried to steal it. She didn't like that." He laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his neck. "But she's really nice!" He pondered this slightly and grinned, "Mostly," He turned to Hiroto and said, "Your turn!" In announcement.

Hiroto coughed as all the attention from Nozomi, Haru and Aki all turned to him. "...Uh... I'm Hyuuga Hiroto and my... Uh, favourite animal would probably be," after seeing an encouraging smile on Nozomi's face his confidence seemed to boost. "Would be, ah, rabbits." He looked at his hands as if expecting to be jeered at, but all he received was a, "And two facts?" From Haru. Looking up, Hiroto beamed, feeling unwanted tears build up in his eyes in happiness. He felt that he had finally made true friends who wouldn't mock or jeer him, or reprimand him with harsh words when he couldn't do anything right. He thought for a moment, "Well, I'm from the Hyuuga clan which means that my eyes can see chakra. Otou-sama can do it really well, and he wants me to get better at it 'cause I can't do it that well, so I, uh, do a lot of training with him and my cousins. Because I'm not from the main family branch I've gotta work even harder 'cause we're gotta protect the clan heirs, Hyuuga Hinata-sama and Hyuuga Hinami-sama." Nozomi nodded thoughtfully, "That sounds like a pretty important job! I'm sure you'll be really good at it eventually,"

"Yeah!" Haru added, "After all, you're only, like, 8 years old and I bet its hard to do your eye thingy anyway."  
"Thanks," Hiroto replied, cheeks heating up slightly from their vote of confidence towards him. He quickly changed the subject. "Another fact would be that, uh, my favourite food is lemon cake." Nozomi perked up. "Really?! I love lemon cake, too! I mean, its not my favourite /food/ but it's my favourite kinda sweet food! That's pretty neat, huh?" Flushing as she briefly pushed his shoulder in a 'Cool, right?' manner he responded with a stuttered, "Y-Yeah!" Giving another care-free laugh, Nozomi titled her head towards Aki. "Hey, your turn!" She announced.

Looking up in slight surprise from Nozomi to Haru, and seeing Haru nod in affirmation he grinned as best he could and jumped off Nozomi's lap. "I'm Aki! And my favourite animals are humans!" He giggled, "Since I can't say dogs 'cause I am one." He licked Haru's hand. "I'm a nin-dog! But I'm also Haru's partner since my parents died when I was a pup. My favourite thing to do is play with Haru and 'Kashi-San and when 'Kashi gives us dango for breakfast," Seeming to find this introduction sufficient, he jumped into Haru's lap this time, his tail thumping wildly.  
Nozomi laughed. "I wish /my/ Otou-san gave me dango for breakfast," Hiroto nodded in agreement, "Yeah," he mumbled.

"Okay, class! Please sit back in your seats now!" There was a few minutes of shuffling as the class complied with Iruka's request. Surveying the class, Iruka nodded in approval. "The next task that I want you to do is write down what you have learnt about your classmates just now. After you have done this, please write your name on your paper and hand it in on my desk. Then you can go and have a break, okay? Good. Don't rush, no one's leaving until normal break time has started. Hano-kun, would you please hand out the paper?" Nodding, Hideo stood up and grabbed the stack at the front. Iruka nodded in acknowledgment, "Arigarto, Hano-kun. Kaneko-Chan, please help him out," nodding, Nozomi took half of the paper from Hideo who was eying her cautiously, and began to hand it out. Iruka sat down and seemed to be marking several exam papers as Nozomi and Hideo handed the paper out.

Haru looked down at his blank sheet of lined paper. The first thing he did was write his name on the back. Then he wrote down the name 'Nozomi Kaneko' on the front. Next to her name he listed her favourite animal as 'cats' and wrote that she had two siblings, a little sister and an older brother, and that her Onii-Chan worked in a bookshop. He then wrote that she had a birthmark in the shape of three dots that were kinda like a ninja clan mark.

He moved onto Hiroto by missing a line and writing 'Hiroto Hyuuga'. Favourite animal, rabbits. Then he wrote the fact that his favourite food was lemon cake and he had special eyes that could see chakra.  
After this, he placed his pencil down and looked around the class. Everyone else was either still writing or clearly finished but not wanting to be the first to give their paper in.

Haru saw no problem in being the first, so he stood up and placed his sheet on Iruka's desk. Iruka looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Haru. You can start break now," Haru nodded, but rather than leave the classroom he walked back to his seat, where Nozomi and Hiroto were still writing. He glanced at Nozomi's and saw she had also written about Aki. He felt a warm feeling rise up in his chest as she finished writing, acknowledged Haru waiting for her with a grateful smile, and walked over to place her paper on the pile Haru had started, which was now piling up. Hiroto was quick to follow, and soon all three of them walked out of the class doors to the outside area of the academy. It was a hot day, so Haru lead them to the shadowed area beneath a tall oak tree. Aki immediately lay down, watching them from his position on the floor.

"I'm so happy to have found you guys as friends," Haru admitted. "I thought It'd be hard 'cause I'm the son of the Hokage and I've never really had a friend before. I don't know how it works. You're my first friends."  
"You're my first proper friends in ages," Nozomi added. "I had one when I was younger; her name was Ai. I liked her, but her parents didn't let me see her a while. It was kinda lonely and I missed her, but I had my Onii-Chan," Hiroto added a, "Well, you're my first friends," to the conversation.

Haru took all of this new information and smiled. "Well, we have friends now! And, I don't know about you guys, but it feels really nice," The two of them nodded in agreement, sitting in a row underneath the tall oak tree content with their new friends.  
(Not knowing the huge difference their lives were making.)

 **A/N:**  
 **Chapter 1 done! I am incredibly sorry about how long this took. I am not abandoning this story- I just kinda forgot about it? Sorry. I had no idea which direction I wanted this story to go in, and when I finally settled on the time period I decided you deserved a long chapter to make up for my long absence. Once again I'm so sorry it took so long! I had to write this on my phone as my laptop has had some trouble with Word recently, and thats really annoying- /BUT/- I will try and update more regularly. I need to thank all you guys who followed, favourited, and reviewed my story! I had no idea it'd be as popular as it ended up and I'm really thankful. Thanks for being patient with me and I really appreciate all of you ⌒.⌒**  
 **Sorry if the ending seems a bit rushed but I just wanted to get this up asap. So- Haru has new friends! A Hyuuga and an OC. I literally had no idea how this was going to play out so I kinda made it up as I went along. I think after this is complete (which will be in a while- I plan for this to be a long fic!) I might rewrite it in a different time period? I'm not sure yet. I'm sorry if this chapter isn't the direction you wanted the story to go in but I figured this would be more fun to write. Pairings will come later but I might have one in mind. So anyway- I hope you enjoyed this long overdue chapter!  
Also - I fixed some issues with spacing! Thanks for pointing that out- I wrote this on my phone so it was hard to transfer it. I've fixed the problems with my laptop so the spacing should be fine now! Thanks again!**  
 **~Yuri out~**


	3. Chapter 2- Old Memories

Chapter 2- Old Memories

Hinata giggled softly, hand covering her mouth, as she watched Naruto comically exclaim his distress at the lack of ramen she had in her kitchen. She shook her head softly in fond exasperation as he looked at her sadly.

"Naruto- I'm a Hyuuga. My father doesn't exactly eat instant ramen, you know. More like 3 courses for every meal." At this Naruto shook his head, distraught.

"That's terrible!" He exclaimed dramatically. He grabbed her hand, causing Hinata to blush furiously, despite how many times he had done so before. "Don't worry, Hinata! I'll make sure that when we live together you'll have plenty of ramen to eat!"

"T-That's, u-uh, t-th-thank you Naruto!" She spluttered out, "I-I can't wait!" She still hadn't gotten used to the fact that Naruto was now her fiancé, and it still felt like a dream every time he held her hand or kissed her or- her face grew ever redder as she thought of those night's they'd had together- and she quickly pushed the images away.

Naruto laughed happily and continued to hold onto her hand. "Lucky for you- I have some ramen with me!" Hinata sighed in exasperation, but the smile on her face was unmistakable.

"O-of course you do, Naruto. I'm not even surprised." He gave her a whiskered grin and kissed her red cheek, before releasing his hand to take out several packets of instant ramen he had shoved into his orange and black jumpsuit's pockets.

"I guess you know me too well! So- how about I make this ramen for you and we eat it outside? It's too stuffy in here, and it'll be nice to eat alone, right?"

"Y-Yeah! U-uh, that'd be really nice, Naruto." She replied, smiling at her fiancé happily. He returned it, before starting to begin the process of making the ramen. If she could even call it that, she thought, but it's the closest Naruto could get, and that's just one more thing she loved about him.

After a few minutes, he turned to her, brandishing two steaming cups of ramen, offering one to her. She took it gratefully, smiling gratefully at him.

"Shall we go outside, then?" He grinned, holding out his hand, which she look and let herself be led by him out into the cool outside air.

She leant her head on his shoulder after she had finished, smiling softly, taking in this moment and enjoying it as best she could.

Several minutes later, however, they were interrupted by hushed whispers and giggles coming from somewhere near to them. Hinata exchanged a look with Naruto, knowing it was most likely some Hyuuga academy students returning later than the others had, who had decided to hang back before entering.

"Haru! You did that?!" A shocked female voice, slightly muffled by the trees surrounding them sounded, with a male one adding,

"That sounds extremely risky. Didn't you get into trouble?" Which was followed by a laid-back,

"Nah, in fact, all he did was laugh and praised me for my imagination!"

"No way!" Two awe-stuck voices sounded in reply.

Hinata chuckled softly, before whispering to Naruto, "Should we surprise them? They should be back at the compound now, anyway." He chuckled, and nodded, ready to burst through the trees.

She touched his arm, "Don't be too crazy, you'll scare them," She told him, grinning, to which he pulled a comically offended face, before kissing her forehead, causing her checks to brighten yet again, then grabbing her hand.

"Let's do it together," He said, before doing so, ambushing the trio by stepping through the trees.

Hinata immediately recognised the Hyuuga by his lavender eyes and brown hair, a branch clan member she vaguely remembered being called Hiroto.

She also faintly recognised the girl, who was definitely not a Hyuuga, by her red hair, birthmark and pointed teeth, which all pointed to the civilian girl who had found out to be of clan decent.

The last child, however, was one she didn't recognise at all, yet his face seemed to remind her of someone…

"Hi," She waved, causing all three children to look at her and Naruto with wide eyes. It was the Hyuuga who acted first, bowing shakily, before straightening up, avoiding eye contact,

"H-Hyuuga Hinata-sama! I-I'm sorry for being late and um," He glanced at the other two wide-eyed children, "…My friends."

Hinata frowned, the formal greeting bothering her. "It's fine, Hiroto-san, you are allowed to play with friends if you please," She said, noticing his shocked expression when she said his name.

"I-I, um, t-thank you," He managed, before the atmosphere was broken by Naruto's far more enthusiastic,

"Hi!" Which seemed to break the silver-haired boy from his stupor, saying loudly, pointing at both of them,

"You're Hinata Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki!" before grinning widely, showing off sharpened teeth, causing Hinata momentary confusion, wondering if that meant he was a clan kid, before Naruto responded with a cheery wave and a,

"Yup! Ya heard about me, 'cause I'm the awesomest, right?" before Hinata shook her head, laughing.

The girl was looking up at Hinata and Naruto with stars in her eyes, gasping.

"You two are the heroes of the Shinobi War!" She said, "Oh my kami, I can't believe you're right here!"

Naruto's chest seemed to puff up, his grin widening, causing Hinata to respond to her.

"Don't boost his ego, it's big enough already," Causing Naruto to gasp, then shrug, still grinning, which he never seemed to stop doing.

"My Otou-san says he likes Hinata-san, but Naruto-san is too annoying and likes ramen too much. I think that Hinata-san is very pretty, and Naruto-san is a bit too enthusiastic."

As Hinata laughed, blushing at the praise slightly, Naruto folded his arms and grumbled, before asking, "Who's your Otou-san, then?"

At this the Hyuuga and the girl looked over to the boy who had a mischievous glint in his eyes that Hinata wasn't sure she liked, with wide-eyes, almost questioning.

Before she could properly ponder what that could mean, the boy replied, with an answer Hinata had definitely not been expecting.

"Kakashi Hatake."

Naruto's eyes bugged from his face, mouth open wide, and he looked like he was about to deny that he could possibly be Kakashi's son, but thought better of it after noticing the similar features. This didn't stop him, however, from letting out an enormous,

"What?!"

That Hinata was sure the whole of Konoha must have heard, so she sighed, and braced herself for what was going to be a long explanation from Kakashi-san.

Well, what she would _make sure_ was a long explanation from Kakashi-san.

Kakashi was enjoying his last day of freedom, knowing his secret would not remain so for much longer, and, boy was he right, when he heard a distant, "What?!" which could only belong to Naruto.

He sighed, and looked at the masses of paperwork on his desk. There was no way he could focus on these now, and it turned out he wouldn't have to, as several minutes later there was suddenly an orange blur and there stood Naruto, Hinata, his son, and two other children in his office, a variation of expressions on their faces.

"Sensei! Explain!" Naruto demanded, a pout on his lips, his arms crossed, glancing from Kakashi to Haru in disbelief. Kakashi chuckled.

"I'm not your sensei anymore, Naruto."

"Just tell me!" He whined, so Kakashi, of course, decided to ignore him further, instead focusing on him son.

"Hiya, Haru," He greeted with a wave, knowing his son was enjoying this as much as he was. Haru grinned and walked to Kakashi's side.

"Yo, otou-san," He greeted with a wave, ignoring the more recent of Naruto's incredulous noises.

"Kakashi! You have a son?" He demanded. Kakashi noticed that Hinata seemed to be quietly demanding the same question from him.

"Yup. Meet Haruchiki Hatake."

"Why are you being so casual?! Look at how old he is! Why didn't you tell us?!"

"A-Ano, Kakashi-san, I agree with Naruto. Why have you kept this a secret?"

"Yeah, um. I didn't want him being put into danger during the shinobi wars. After they finished, I guess I just didn't know how to tell you. But- hey. I'm telling you now, right?" He answered, grinning under his mask at the end.

"…I understand. But still! These kids knew before I, your best student, did!"

Kakashi chuckled, and quickly examined the children he was speaking of. He had paid them little attention, but now he was curious as to who his little Haru had decided to make his friends.

They both seemed startled at their sudden mention. One was a Hyuuga, a Branch member. That was fine by him, as long as he wasn't like a younger Neji had been.

The other was a red-haired girl with unique clan markings. _Ah. The anomaly._ He remembered the fuss that had happened when she had been discovered. He didn't know her personality yet, but keeping an eye on her through Haru didn't seem like a bad plan.

And, hey, if Haru was happy, even better.

"…Wait…" Naruto muttered, "If you have a son, _who's the mother?!_ "

Kakashi sighed. He had bought this upon himself, he supposed. But he couldn't feel anything but pity for himself as he recounted the tale of Yuri, or Lily, after all, he had only been protecting his son, right?

 _Karma,_ the voice in the back of his head said smugly.

Kakashi sighed again.

 _"_ _Hiya! You're Hatake Kakashi, right?"_

 _Kakashi turned around in irritation, and came face to face with a young re-haired girl, who was beaming at up at him with sparkling eyes._

 _"_ _What's it to you?" He said in frustration, leaning against the tree behind him, arms folded. Why were his classmates so intent on talking to him? He had no interest in interacting with academy brats who only talked to him because of his father. He couldn't stand fangirls or, kami-forgive, fan_ boys.

 _"_ _I'm Komatsu Yuri! Please be my friend!" She said, bouncing on her feet. Kakashi sighed internally._

 _"_ _No." He answered bluntly, looking away from her in annoyance, expecting her to cry or just go away like the others had._

 _"_ _Too bad! I'm gonna be your friend!" She replied stubbornly, her pouting face making its way once again into his field of view._

 _"_ _Here! Have some of my bento!" And all of a sudden an onigiri was being shoved into his hands. His eyes narrowed._

 _"_ _No." He said again. Why couldn't she just get the message? He expected her pout to return, yet all he saw was a glint in her eye, which confused him slightly._

 _"_ _Eat it." She said in a different tone of voice from before, pushing his onigiri filled hand back to his body._

 _"_ _Now. Please." Kakashi narrowed his eyes._

 _"_ _No. Go away."_

 _Her bright green eyes suddenly narrowed back, and she snarled, pushing him back into the tree._

 _"_ _I have given you some of my bento, I've been polite, I've asked to be your friend, so you_ will _eat the onigiri and you_ will. Be. My. Friend. _Got it?"_

 _Each word was accompanied by another shove, and the snarl on her face grew wider with every word. When she finished she stood back and her face completely changed back to how it had been earlier, and wide, childlike smile and happy eyes._

 _"…_ _Uh," Was all he managed in bewilderment. Well, this girl seemed different from the others, at least. He would play along for a while, until she grew bored with him. Plus, that onigiri looked nice._

 _"_ _Fine. But don't expect me to act like any of those other crybabys in our year. I don't like you, and if you get bored, don't expect me to care."_

 _He then ate the onigiri, pulling down the mask he wore, before pulling it back up to chew. He didn't always wear his mask, but he liked to, since it made him feel more connected to his father._

 _"_ _Great! I won't get bored, by the way. I never get bored."_

 _"'_ _Kashi! I'm bored!" Yuri wined, pulling at his arm. Kakashi sighed._

 _"_ _Then you shouldn't have come here. You shouldn't be here, anyway. You're not part of my team, and you don't need to be here when I meet them."_

 _Minato laughed, patting his arm, causing Kakashi to twitch in annoyance, before suggesting, "Let her wait until they get here. How about you train while you're waiting?"_

 _At this Yuri perked up. "Yeah! 'Kashi, I need to practise for the chunin exams! I wanna pass this time, and you're already one, so you can help me!" She grinned cheekily._

 _"…_ _Fine." He relented. He couldn't argue with both his sensei's and his best friend's dual smiling faces._

 _"_ _I want to practise my new justsu, so help me with that, first." She requested, dragging him to stand next to her._

 _"_ _It's the Dragon Flame Bomb. It's really hard to get right."_

 _"_ _Show me."_

 _She did, standing back, going through the hand signs, shouting, "Katon: Karyu Endan!" Before taking in a lung full of air, and blowing out. There was a short flicker of a flame, and then nothing but a sullen Yuri._

 _"_ _Show me the handsigns."_

 _She went through them slowly, and at one of them Kakashi stopped her._

 _"_ _This one's good, but you just need to extend the first fingers slightly, Here, like this," He showed her the movement slowly._

 _She copied it, and he nodded. "Good. The rest are fine, but you need to draw all your chakra to the same place, and imagine it how you want the fire. Watch me."_

 _He flickered through the hand signs at lightning speed, spoke the jutsu, and when he breathed out, a long line of blue and white fire came along with it._

 _"_ _See? Try again."_

 _Yuri nodded in excitement, eager to try again. However, when she breathed out, the flame was only slightly bigger than her last one._

 _"_ _Argh! I can't get it right!"_

 _"_ _Don't worry. You'll get it soon, you just need to practise your chakra control. It's well within your ability. Try again."_

 _She tried a few times more, but only managed to get the flame a few centimetres longer. She looked close to tears after the twelfth try._

 _"_ _Yuri, don't worry about it. You can use other jutsus. It's fine."_

 _She smiled at him gratefully._

 _"_ _Thanks, 'Kashi. You're a great friend." She whispered, before hugging him, tightly, leaning her head on his shoulder._

 _"_ _I just hope you get a good genin team. Also, I lied. I don't have a day off, so I should probably go now." She grinned into his ear._

 _"_ _See ya, 'Kashi, bye, Minato-sensei!" She yelled, waving at a bemused Minato and an exasperated Kakashi._

 _"_ _Thanks for the help!"_

 _Kakashi watched her go, before turning at the sound of genin voices, no doubt the teammates he was condemned to spend his time with._

 _He scowled. He only hoped they weren't as insufferable as he expected them to be._

 _"_ _They're insufferable!" He complained to her, clenching his fist._

 _Yuri smiled knowingly._

 _"_ _You've told me this many times, 'Kashi. Anyway, Rin-chan's not that bad, right? And Uchiha-sanis just enthusiastic."_

 _"_ _Rin is just another fangirl, and Obito is a terrible ninja, with a complete disregard for the ninja code and the most obvious crush on Rin."_

 _"_ _Like you know anything about crushes," Yuri teased, taking a bite of her Omurice._

 _"_ _Even a blind man could tell. He blushes if she even looks in her direction. I don't understand how anyone can act or feel like that for another person," He complained._

 _For some reason, she blushed at his words. "Well, you know, it's, um, not that bad."_

 _He suspiciously watched as she avoided looking in his eyes. Suddenly, it hit him._

 _"_ _You have a crush on someone." He declared._

 _"_ _What! N-No! No, I don't! Why would I- I, have a crush…?" she faded into mumbling._

 _"_ _I don't know why. I don't care, either. As long as you're not as obnoxious about it as Obito is, I don't even care who it's on._

 _"_ _I-okay. Okay. Thanks, Kakashi. You really are a good friend."_

 _He felt his heart almost skip a beat at her thankful gaze, much to his surprise and confusion._

 _"…_ _Yeah."_

 _She grinned again, changing the atmosphere between them almost instantly._

 _"_ _One day, you'll be glad to have him as a teammate."_

 _"_ _No way." He disagreed. No way._

 _"_ _You_ will. _You'll regret being mean to him."_

 _He seriously doubted that._

 _"_ _I wish I'd been kinder to him!" He practically sobbed into her arms. "I-I, he was the true hero. The true ninja! He_ died _just because I was too selfish to help him!"_

 _"_ _That's not true!" She told him sharply, taking him into her arms. "You may have been dedicated to the ninja code, but that's the only way you knew! It wasn't your fault that that's how you coped with your father's death! Please, 'Kashi, it's not your_ fault _!"_

 _"_ _I-I could have_ saved _him! He was the right one all along, and now he's_ gone _!"_

 _"_ _Kakashi!_ Please _! It's not your fault! It's happened, and it's sad, and_ yes _you didn't make the best decisions, but you went back to help, you_ tried, _and that's all anyone can ask you to do!"_

 _"_ _Yuri. Yuri, I just can't help seeing it happen! I hate that it happened, and what if it were you? I wish I had just helped him to start off with?"_

 _"_ _Kakashi, please stop! I hate seeing you hurt!"_

 _"_ _Who cares? I thought I would prove myself better than my father, but I've done worse. He was the one right, all along."_

 _"_ _Kakashi,_ I care."

 _He looked up at her through tears, only to see her crying too. She sobbed, then grabbed his shoulders._

 _"_ _Kakashi, I love you. I love you! I hate seeing like this! I hate it! And I love_ you _!"_

 _Kakashi could only gape._

 _"_ _W-What? Since_ when? _"_

 _"_ _Since_ forever _! Kami, 'Kashi, I've loved you since we were genin!"_

 _"_ _I-I," the pain of Obito's death was still sharp in his mind, but the pain of seeing Yuri cry was slowly creeping up beside it._

 _"_ _Don't cry. Please. I never wanted Obito to die, and I don't want you to cry! I- everything's just, why was I so_ stupid!"

 _Yuri shook her head, hands shaking as they made their way to his mask, which was where the hesitated, looking into his eyes, his old one, and a shining red sharingan._

 _"_ _You are anything but stupid! Please!" her voice cracked, and her eyes looking up at him, almost for permission. His hands met hers and they slowly pulled down his mask._

 _They locked gazes, and Yuri's shaking fingers began to caress his previously hidden features in awe._

 _"_ _C-Can I…?" She asked hesitantly. He didn't answer, only pressed his lips against hers._

 _He sat on her bed, holding back his tears. Why did everyone he cared about all leave him? She had been his friend since before he was even a genin._

 _She had been there throughout his life, when he needed her the most. And now she was gone. No word, no signs of any reason why. She had just disappeared._

 _Rin, Obito, and_ her. _That night replayed in his mind over and over. Was it his fault? Why? Why?_

 _His fists clenched. It was so quiet. He missed her. She had always been there, her grin, her red hair, her teasing tone, and her_ lips _._

 _He missed her._

 _Of course, he missed Rin, too. He missed Obito. He regretted Obito more than he regreted anything else in his life._

 _But why did she have to disappear? They could have had so much more. He_ missed _her._

 _So he did nothing to stop his tears._

 _And then there were warm arms wrapping him in a warm hug and then a voice that_ couldn't _be because he hadn't heard it in so long._

 _"_ _Yuri?"_

 _"_ _It's Lily now."_

"His mother was Komatsu Yuri." He said plainly, gesturing for his son to sit next to him.

Hinata had not heard of that name before, and neither had Naruto, judging by his expression.

"Who?" He asked, quieter this time.

"She was a ninja alongside me, and my friend since childhood. She-She's no longer with us. She died a long time ago."

"I'm sorry," Hinata said, bowing her head respectfully. She couldn't begin to think how bad it must have been for him. If she was in his place, well, she wasn't sure she could take it if Naruto died.

"Me too." Naruto said, in a rare moment of maturity. He grabbed her hand, probably thinking along the same thought track as herself.

"It's okay. It was a long time ago." His voice was sad.

"…What was she like?" Hinata asked softly.

Kakashi was silent for a moment, and the tension in the room grew vastly, before he answered her question.

"She was beautiful. She was stubborn, though, but she was intelligent and she always knew what to say to me to make me feel better."

"…She sounds amazing," Hinata smiled, seeing Naruto nod in agreement.

"Thank you. Both." He nodded.

"Anyway. This is my son, Haru. Haru, these are my old students, Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Hinata."

Haru nodded. "Hiya!" he smiled.

He suddenly seemed to remember something, and glanced at the two children who were awkwardly standing in the corner of the room.

"Oh! Otou-san! These are my new friends! Kaneko Nozomi and Hyuuga Hiroto! I met them today, and Aki is friends with them too."

"U-Um, hi?" The Hyuuga said, waving, but shaking slightly.

"Y-yeah. Hello." The Kaneko girl added.

Kakashi smiled through his mask. "Hello, you two. I'm sure my little Haru chose well."

"I'm not little!" Haru grumbled angrily, causing Hinata to laugh and Naruto to chuckle.

"Well, I'm glad we're all acquaintanced-"

"My eternal rival! What is this I hear about a son?"

Suddenly there was a flash of green and a white-toothed grin, and Might Gai was standing in the Hokage's office, accompanied by an eager Rock Lee.

"Have you been keeping something a secret from me for such a long time?!" He grinned, causing everyone in the room to look on in horror.

"Hi, brats, I guess you all found out, huh?"

"Anko-nee-chan!" Came the exited call of Haru.

"What's up?" She grinned.

Kakashi groaned. He guessed had brought this on himself.

 _Karma_ the voice said again.

 **I AM A HORROR! I am so sorry! I know I have no excuse, and you all can come at me with the pitchforks, because I deserve them! I know how horrid it can be to wait so long to have a fanfic updated. I am So. Sorry. I promise next time it will not be as long. I am a horror! But here! Please take this! Like I said, I am very sorry. I had writers block and I had laziness and a dash of the good ol' procrastination.I have had exams and options and stressful nights but I have also had time watching Buzzfeed at 3am in the morning so I have no excuse! I am so sorry! I am trash.  
Anyway, this chapter has a lot of backstory, just because I wanted to explore Lily and Kakashi's relationship more. I know some of you don't like her for her James/Kakashi stuff, and I can understand, but overall she wasn't that bad, she just fell in love with two people, which many people do. I don't exuse cheating, but Lily did have her reasons.  
Also, to Reithandina, Ayame does have a connection with the name Lily, but it means more of a flower in general, and means 'iris' literally. Yuri, however, is the direct translation for the name 'Lily'. I appreciate you reviewing, but I'm just letting you know! I'm really happy you took time to read my story.  
About Hinata's sister in Chapter 2, I have been trying to change her name, but for some reason FF is not letting me edit it atm. It will be corrected as soon as I can correct it. Thank you to those who pointed it out!  
Also, thank you to everyone who is still reading this, and to everyone who followed, favorited and reviewed. I'm so grateful you've taken time to read it. Hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than the last! Once again, I'm sorry! :C**

 **~Yuri Out~**


	4. Chapter 4- Meetings

**I'm here! And it's actually not been several months! Wow! Anyway, here, have a well-deserved new chapter.** _This_ **is flashbacks/older scenes. I'm exploring Yuri/Lily and Kakashi's relationship further through these scenes. Anyway- here you go!**

 _Kakashi hummed to himself, cross-legged on his bed, glancing between his two copies of Icha Icha Paradise, trying to decide which one to read first._

 _He finally decided on the left copy, and began to read it, trying to distract himself from the painful memories that entered his thoughts every time he was alone._

 _He bit the inside of cheek, trying to focus on his book instead of memories he'd rather forget. And he sighed, closing it. It never really worked when he was in the mood he was in now._

 _"_ _Mama!"_

 _The high pitched wailing interrupted his thoughts. Highly confused, he turned to see a baby sobbing on his bed._

 _"…_ _What." He deadpanned. Was this someone's idea of a joke? A baby? Why was a baby suddenly occupying his bed space?_

 _But, he couldn't exactly leave it there. He tentatively approached it. He was way out of his depth with this one. As he grew closer, he noticed the baby's hair colour properly._

 _It was exactly the same shade as his own._

 _A sneaking suspicion rose in his throat, put he pushed It away. There was no way, right? Yuri was most likely dead now, anyway._

 _But as he glanced down and the tear-filled eyes of the baby, he almost had a heart attack._

 _Tear-filled eyes which were the exact shade as Yuri's._

 _"_ _Kuso." He cursed to the previously empty room._

 _The baby looked up in curiosity at the new voice._

 _"_ _Mama? Mama? Mama!" He babbled sadly, making grabby hands towards Kakashi, Yuri's eyes took in his appearance like they had so many years ago, only this time as a stranger._

 _"_ _Kuso." He cursed again._

 _'_ _Dear Kakashi,_

 _If you're reading this, I am dead. I'm sorry for everything, and especially for dying. I have a lot to explain. And I'm sorry for everything._

 _Just know that I love you, okay? Don't doubt that. Never doubt that. If you doubt anything about me, just please never doubt that._

 _It feels strange writing this. Hopefully, you will never read this. But if you are, then I need to explain for you._

 _First of all, I'm sure you know about my father's death. It was sad for me, but devastating for my mother. She began to hate every aspect about ninja life, so left me by myself to travel to where she called 'The Outside'._

 _I was invited to join her with every letter she sent me, but I stayed. For you, Kakashi. I'm sure you remember the night we shared. I couldn't help but feel lonely after then. You never really talked to me after then, and I suppose I thought you thought I was a mistake. I'm sorry for thinking that now. I know what you were going through._

 _I was confused about my feelings, as well as sad, so I accepted my mother's request the next time she asked me. I'm sorry for not telling you. I truly am._

 _I joined my mother to find she had started a completely new life, with a new husband and daughter. They gladly welcomed me, for which I am grateful._

 _My chakra always acted differently in this new world, so Petunia, who was my mother's new daughter, never really liked me, I suppose. I guess she was always jealous of the power she didn't have._

 _Anyway, I'm going off track._

 _There are also people in The Outside who have powers similar to Chakra, yet they call it magic instead. I was enrolled into a school for this magic school, and had a really great time. It's so different there, 'Kashi, but it's beautiful, too._

 _I, of course, made friends, and, I'm sorry to write this down, but also a lover. His name is James Potter, and he is truly a kind man, but sometimes I felt like there was something missing. And sometimes I still do._

 _Maybe the feeling I have for him was more of a friendship? I'm not sure. I wish I could explain everything, 'Kashi, but I'm afraid no one can. I'm sure you'd be able to, though. You were always the clever one._

 _But I confessed to my mother about my regrets concerning you, and she told me a way of going back. I knew that I had to go back, despite my life in The Outside._

 _I needed to see you, Kakashi. So I went. I'm sure you remember our time together. I'm truly sorry I could not stay longer._

 _But, 'Kashi, the next thing I knew was that I was pregnant, with your child._

 _His name is Haruchiki, Haru for short. James calls him Harry._

 _He's a perfect child. Perfect like you. Sometimes I wish he could have happened back at home, with none of The Outside's interference, but I don't know anymore._

 _I feel like I don't know anything anymore._

 _I [Here the words are obscured by stray tear marks and smudged ink] –orry._

 _But, here, there is a man, who calls himself Voldemort. Currently he is waging war on most of The Outside's population, and unfortunately I myself am a specific target._

 _Due to Haru. There is a man called Dumbledore, who was a teacher of mine, and a very powerful man. He tells me there is a prophesy, which caused Voldemort to want to kill Haru, so James, Haru and I have gone into hiding._

 _I would love to tell you that we are perfectly fine, yet if you are reading this I must not be. But it will also mean our son is alive, which I can only be thankful for._

 _Kakashi, I don't care if you hate me after this, but please do not hate your son. He reminds me so much of you._

 _I know you won't want to read a truly long letter, and despite me hoping this will never reach your eyes, that is the sole purpose of me writing it._

 _So, please take care, Kakashi, and take care of your son. I wish I could see him grow up, and I hope I will get to, but living in this moment now is enough._

 _All I can do is hope Voldemort will be defeated. We should be safe, the only one who knows our exact location is one of James's close friends, Peter Pettigrew. He's a sweet boy, but I've always preferred Sirius and Remus, for some reason. But he's the last person Voldemort would expect to be our secret keeper._

 _I still practise jutsus from time to time. And, yes, I still can't get the Dragon Flame Bomb right. Maybe you were wrong. But maybe I will get it one day. It doesn't help that every time I try it, I am reminded of you._

 _I hope you are doing well._

 _I'm not really sure what to write here. I've never really been good with goodbyes, as I'm sure you've picked up from experience._

 _It's just, writing this seems final. I don't want it to be. I want to see you again, but I guess we were never meant to be._

 _Sometimes I think about what life would be like with you, and sometimes it almost feels like it's real, but I know it's not. You will do fine as your own shinobi._

 _I think of our time together, from time to time, and it seems that all I can feel through the nostalgia is the sad tinted happiness that you always did take my advice._

 _And I'm happy too. I said I'd always love you, and you were all I'd ever need, and maybe that's still true. Maybe the pain has never really faded, yet_ do _I know I am happy too. And I hope you are._

 _Maybe with this, we can both be happy, if only in a small aspect of our universe, but who cares, right? It's our happiness; our life. We can be happy if we want to be._

 _I miss you._

 _Please, do whatever you must to look after your son. Our son. Just know I still love you, if only as a faraway promise._

 _Yours, always,_

 _Yuri xxx_

 _[There is a small hand-dawn sketch of a Lily lying on it's side next to the signature. It is splattered with a mixture of tears, ink, and blood]_

"Your nee-san is crazy," Hiroto whispered to Haru, almost scared, the day after. Haru could only laugh in response.

"I guess. She loves dango. Like me."

Hiroto shivered. "…Yeah. And Gai! I've heard about him, but he's far worse in real life." Haru could only agree with this one.

"Yeah. He's mad. I feel sorry for otou-san, to have to be his 'eternal rival'. Must be scary."

"I'm just glad he didn't seem to notice me."

"How do you think I felt? I had his undivided attention! And Otou-san was no help! He just kept laughing."

Hiroto snickered at this, to which Haru elbowed him playfully. At this moment, Aki burst through the bushes.

"Haru! I think I've found her! And you've found Hiroto." He barked, tail standing up in acknowledgment to his presence.

"Yeah. C'mon then, Aki, let's go!"

They followed Aki into a patch of tall trees, luscious with green leaves.

"Up there." Aki whispered, pointing with his muzzle. Haru nodded, and put a finger over his lips, before beginning to climb the tree pointed out.

About half the way up, he spotted Nozomi's dangling leg, facing away from him. He quietly climbed to the same level as her, and began to silently sneak up behind her, using Aki and his father's advice on how to sneak up unnoticed.

He crossed the last few inches with speed, grabbing Nozomi's shoulder, causing her to tense and whip around to face him, eyes flashing in the light. She saw it was Haru and relaxed, laughing.

She held up her hands in defeat. "You found me! Have you found Hiroto yet?" She asked, already starting to climb down the tree.

Haru nodded, following her down. "Yeah. He helped me find you." She nodded, before looking down to see where to put her foot down.

She jumped to the floor before reaching the bottom, startling Hiroto, and causing Haru to grin at his reaction and Aki to bark.

Haru followed her a second late, chuckling. They decided to play a few more rounds, before stopping and just sat in a circle, Aki curled up in Haru's lap.

"We should be a ninja team together," Haru yawned, exploiting two nods from his friends.

"Yeah." Nozomi answered. "What ninja weapon is your favourite?" She added in question.

Surprisingly, Hiroto was the first to answer. "I-I like Kusarigamas and Kamas." To which Haru and Nozomi looked around at him in pleasant surprise.

"That's so cool!" Haru gaped, to which Nozomi nodded in agreement, causing Hiroto to blush slightly in embarrassment, looking down at the floor.

"U-Uh, thanks. W-what about you two?" he inquired, stutter seeping back into his words.

"Well, Anko-nee-san taught me how to use senbon needles, and I quite like them. I like the sai, shuriken, kunai and tantos too." Haru commented, before looking over at Nozomi expectantly.

She blushed a bright red, "I-I'm not really sure, I-I mean, I've never really used any before."

Haru grinned, telling her comfortingly, "That's fine. It just gives you more time to find out what your good at!" before patting her on the shoulder.

She nodded at him thankfully, still red. "When do you think we'll start using weapons?" She asked.

Haru shrugged, but Hiroto decided to speak up at this.

"Otou-sama said we won't use them for ages, we need to work on our stamina and chakra first. It'll be maybe even years before we can use proper weapons."

Haru groaned in disappointment, a pout on his face, "That's annoying! I bet Otou-san will let me practise before that, though."

"Mine will too, no doubt," Hiroto nodded in agreement, before seeming to consider Nozomi.

"I-I mean, you could train with us, too, if you want." He shyly said, causing Nozomi to smile gratefully.

"That'd be awesome! It'd be even cooler if I can decide what weapon I like then. Thanks." She beamed at him.

He shrugged, but had a smile on his face, looking at the floor again.

"And me?!" Haru exclaimed, causing Aki to jump and glare at him, before snuggling closer in his lap.

Hiroto and Nozomi chuckled, before Hiroto nodded. "Yeah. All of us."

 _-3 months later-_

"Otou-san? Can my friends come round? And train?"

Kakashi turned to glance down at his son.

"Sure? The Hyuuga and the red-haired girl?"

Haru sighed, but nodded.

"Yeah. We always go to the Hyuuga compound or over to Nozomi's house, but we've never come here."

"You can bring them here tonight, then. I'll keep an eye on you."

"Yeah, um, please don't be, uh, I mean, you're the hokage! And they'll be nervous, so please don't, um,"

Kakashi grinned through his mask. His cute son.

"Don't be like what? Do you not like me? Or am I going to embarrass you in front of your girlfriend?" He said, mock hurt in his voice.

Haru flushed in anger and embarrassment. "Otou-san! First of all, we're too young to have relationships! And I wouldn't even want to be Nozomi's girlfriend. And I don't like you when you're annoying my friends."

"My own son hates me!" He whined, enjoying the look on Haru's face. He straightened up, and ruffled Haru's hair, before nodding.

"I expect some introductions to these friends of yours! Invite them over for dinner, too."

"Okay! Thanks, Otou-san, you're the best," Haru smiled, changing demeanour in seconds.

Kakashi smiled fondly as he watched him leave for the academy.

Nozomi was laughing at a joke Hiroto had just told her, sitting on a table next to him, legs swinging carelessly, a grin on her face.

Hiroto was smiling, writing down answers on a sheet of homework while absent-mindedly talking to Nozomi, who had done the homework the day before.

"Guys!" Haru's voice sounded as he entered the room, a smirk on his face, followed by a padding Aki.

They both turned to look at him questioningly.

"Otou-san said you need to come and stay for dinner at our house tonight!"

Nozomi and Hiroto exchanged equally nervous looks, causing Haru to walk over to them, shaking his head in exasperation.

"It's just like when I go over to yours'. It'll be fine. We can train there, too, okay? Otou-san's got loads of weapons, too, so you can use a kama or whatever, and you can try a few out!"

At this, they both perked up slightly.

"Otou-sama won't mind, so I guess I'll come."

"I'll come too. Okaa-san won't care if I go to a friend's house, so I just won't tell her it's at the hokage's house." Nozomi added.

"Great! It'll be fun, don't worry."

Hiroto snorted. "That's what I'm worried about."

Nozomi laughed.

"Do we… knock?" Nozomi whispered to Hiroto, looking at the door to Haru's house apprehensively.

"I don't know," he whispered back, "Maybe we should go back?"

Nozomi considered this option before decisively shaking her head. "No, he asked us to come, I don't want him to feel like we forgot or anything."

Hiroto nodded in agreement, "Yeah. But, uh, _should_ we knock?"

Nozomi hesitantly nodded, and grabbed his arm, "C'mon, if I'm gonna do it, you're coming with me."

He complied and followed her until she knocked on the door three times. And then they stood waiting in silence.

And waiting.

And waiting.

Just as Nozomi was about to speak again, the door flew open and a ball of grey fur flung itself at the pair. Nozomi immediately let out a laugh in surprise, immediately beginning to pet Aki, while Hiroto looked up to see a smiling Haru.

"You came!" He exclaimed happily.

Nozomi and Hiroto exchanged an amused glance.

"Of course we came!" Hiroto said, Nozomi nodding along as best she could crouched at eye level with an exited nin-dog pup.

"Come on! I'll show you our weapon stash."

The four of them made their way inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Here! Look, Hiroto, we have like 5 kamas, and I think there's another kusarigama around here somewhere-"

"Thank you!" Hiroto gushed, immediately making his way to a shiny black kama, one of the smaller ones, but also one of the sharpest ones.

"No problem," Haru spoke, pleased with himself. He then turned to Nozomi, who was still carrying a pleased Aki and absent-mindedly petting him, but completely focussed on the wide array of weaponry in front of her.

"D'ya wanna have a look? You can try some if you want; pick them up to feel the weight and stuff."

She lifted her head up to meet her eyes with his. They were practically shining. "Thank you!" She told him in excitement, a similar tone to Hiroto's, who was now testing the feel of the kama he had picked up.

She gave Aki one last pet before he licked her hand and jumped beside Haru. Nozomi glanced across the varied weapons before hesitantly picking up a pair of Tekko, and then turning to look at Haru in egar enthusiasm.

"These are so cool! What are they called?"

Haru grinned. "Tekkō. I thought you might like them. I have longer ones, if you want to look at them. They're more like claws than these."

Nozomi nodded rapidly, almost bouncing.

He showed her the pair, made with a shining silver metal, sharpened to a point.

"Can I try them?" She asked quickly, taking them in her hands in awe.

He nodded, a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"Hiroto!" He called to his friend, causing him to look around in question from where he was now handling a kusarigama carefully.

"D'ya wanna test them out with us?" He asked, already knowing the answer, and sure enough, Hiroro nodded and immediately joined them.

Haru led them through a door which led the trio into what Nozomi could only describe as a large training room.

"Use whatever you like," Haru said, already leaning against one of the walls in anticipation.

Nozomi and Hiroto nodded and shared an excited grin between them, before moving to identical training dummies on either side of the large room.

Nozomi fastened the Tekkō to her hands while Hiroto gripped the kama in his hand tightly.

Before he could blink, Nozomi had stabbed the area where the heart would be, immediately tearing the fabric, almost all the way through the body.

At the same time, Hiroto had flung the kama at the neck of the dummy, and watched, mouth slightly open, as the head toppled to the ground.

They turned to look at Haru, who laughed.

"That was good! I can make them move, though. It might be harder for you."

They watched him curiously as he walked over, first to Hiroto, leading him to an untouched one close to him, and fiddled with something at the back, humming.

"Otou-san made them. They've got his chakra in them, so they're like people kinda? You'll see what I mean in a sec."

He then moved over to Nozomi's and did the same, before standing back.

The dummies began to shake, before the deep gashes Nozomi had made in hers began to stitch themselves together, and all of a sudden, it began to move.

Nozomi looked towards him, eyes wide and a grin on her face. Hiroto made a noise in the back of his throat, hand gripping the kama tighter.

Nozomi swiped for the dummy like before, except this time the dummy dodged out of the way of the glinting metal.

Hiroto had found a similar thing had happened to him, the kama meeting empty air. They glanced towards each other and nodded with a smirk.

Nozomi slashed again, and as the dummy dodged, she twirled around and managed to clip its side with her other hand.

Hiroto aimed towards its right shoulder, before swinging for its left side as it dodged from his shoulder strike.

He caught it the first time, a tear appearing, before it darted back, standing still.

Haru called out, "They're on the lowest level. They don't attack on that one. Only on Level 3 upwards."

"There are levels to these?" Nozomi inquired, looking towards him curiously.

"Yeah. They gain armour and stuff, too. But Otou-san has to be there to do that. It's ' _too dangerous_ '."

Hiroto giggled. "He _does_ have a point."

Haru flushed slightly. "I guess. Anyway, go on!"

At this both of them nodded and focused on the still figures.

Nozomi quickly slashed forwards, agile like a cat, and caught its chest slightly, ripping it.

Hiroto tried his last tactic again, on the opposite side. It didn't work.

He swiped for its neck, watching it dodge like he expected, but before spinning around quickly, similar to how Nozomi had spun earlier, and caught the other side of the neck with the kama.

Another dummy head hit the floor.

Nozomi glanced at him with a pleased look, before slashing at the dummy in rapid succession, in quick calculated swipes.

She stood back and watched as the dummy staggered back, numerous deep gashed across its whole body.

It fell to the floor.

There was a slow clap. Hiroto and Nozomi turned round with a joint grin, thinking it was Haru. But Haru had also turned around.

And there in the doorway stood a Kakashi Hatake.

Haru sighed, glancing it his friends in a, ' _Can you believe this guy?_ ' way.

"Yo," The Hokage waved, causing Nozomi and Hiroto to gaze at him in slight horror, before looking up at Kakashi nervously.

"That was pretty good, for Academy brats. I have to admit, I'm impressed." He admitted, taking a step further into the room.

"I-U-Uh, thanks?" Nozomi stuttered, sweat dripping down her forehead, but not from the exertion of fighting the dummy. She elbowed Hiroto to encourage him to speak up as well.

He squeaked, as if broken from a stupor. "I- yeah! Uh- thanks! Hokage-sama!"

Haru didn't know whether to laugh or facepalm. He decided to stay silent.

Kakashi, on the other hand, was highly amused.

"A Hyuuga? And a… girl? Well, I don't mind, they're fine by me. Nice work with the kamas. I didn't think Hyuuga's really used them."

"I-T-They don't usually, b-but I-I I like them!" Hiroto seemed to gain a boost of confidence.

"They're easiest to use. And I like kusarigama's too."

Kakashi nodded in approval. Hiroto was proving an interesting companion for his son, but that wasn't a bad thing. He turned his gaze to the anomaly.

"I see you have taken a liking to the Tekkō. You like cats, right?"

Nozomi nodded, moving from foot to foot. "Yeah. I-well, yeah. These are nice to use. And cats are the best."

"I don't like cats. I like dogs." Kakashi said bluntly, trying to hide his grin, which was quite easy to do, considering his mask.

Nozomi began to fidget, silenced. The silence dragged on, the atmosphere tense.

 _'_ _This was a bad idea'_ Nozomi and Hiroto were both frantically thinking, kama and tekkō both forgotten, until the silence was shattered by Kakashi laughing.

"I'm joking." He deadpanned again, before gesturing for the three kids to follow him out of the room.

"C'mon, you brats. I hope you're not _actually_ that scared of me. What has Haru been telling you about me?" He teased, causing Nozomi and Hiroto to relax slightly, still confused, whereas Haru was silently praying he wouldn't get any more embarrassing than he already was being currently.

The next thing they knew they were seated around a dinner table, Aki was asleep in the corner, wrapped in a blanket, and Kakashi was humming while serving food.

Haru glanced at his friends apologetically, but they were too busy watching Kakashi in a cross between awe and confusion.

He sat down next to Haru, who picked up his fork with resignation, prompting his friends to follow, albeit hesitantly.

They both were curiously watching Kakashi at the same time, wondering if he was going to take his mask off, or if he wasn't how he would eat all.

He just seemed to be smiling invitingly, so they began to eat their food, but as soon as they looked back up there was a portion of the food missing, and Kakashi still sported the same face as moments ago.

Haru grinned at his friend's faces, he was used to his father's behaviour by now, but it was funny to see others react to his habits.

It was only after they had finished eating, and the trio were sitting next to each other, a tired dog spread across their laps, that Kakashi commented,

"Please feel free to come here whenever you want, you two. I trust Haru's judgment. Don't be worried about me, okay?"

Haru nodded at his father's words.

"Yeah! He's just a big teddy bear," He grinned up at his father, laughing. Kakashi chuckled and ruffled his son's hair.

"Shush, you brat. But yeah. If you need anything, ask. I'll be upstairs, uh, reading. Yeah. Reading."

And then he left the three and the dog alone.

"See? He's fine," Haru said, yawning.

Nozomi shrugged. "He's, um, not what I was expecting."

"Yeah. Me neither." Hiroto agreed.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

They just laughed. "I'm not sure yet." Nozomi admitted, leaning her head against Hiroto's shoulder, feeling tired, just like the dog on her lap.

"Give him time. He's awesome, you'll see."

She just gave a noncommittal hum of agreement, eyes closing. Hiroto looked at her, grinning. Haru was falling asleep on his other side too, and now he thought about it, he could fall asleep too.

"'Night, guys." He muttered, leaning his head back against the wall behind him.

"'Night," Haru yawned back, stretching slightly before leaning on Hiroto's other, unoccupied shoulder.

"'Night." Nozomi mumbled, muffled voice barely audible.

They all slipped away into the gentle grasp of sleep.

The next morning, Kakashi looked at the four of them, a fond grin on his face, taking a photo of them, a mess of tangled limbs and drooling mouths, youths barely ready to embrace the world they were born into.

He chuckled, heading to the kitchen, waiting for them to wake up.

 **So Chapter 3 done. Phew. I felt a burst of productiveness and need to write this, so thank you writing gods. I needed it. And once again thanks to those who read, followed, faved and reviewed. Reviews make me so happy, so thank you so much! Anyway- the chapter. There are gonna be several timeskips in the next few chapters, just to move the story on a bit. This chapter is basically just character bonding, and I hope you're getting to know my OC's. More plot will come soon, don't you worry. I like developing my characters first, so weapons felt like a good way to do this. As you can probably tell, I'm bad at chapter names, so I'm not opposed to suggestions.** ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

 **Thanks again for reading!**

 **~Yuri Out~**


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